To gaze into another person's face is to do two things: to recognize their humanity, and to assert your own. -The Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill

Honest and earnest criticism from those whose interests are most nearly touched, -criticism of writers by readers, of government by those governed, of leaders by those led, -this is the soul of democracy and the safeguard of modern society.
-The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois

He was a fattish but active man of paralyzing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms- one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the Thought Police, the stability of The Party depended.
-1984, George Orwell

Pretend that you have free will. It's essential that you behave as if your decisions matter, even though you know they don't. The reality isn't important; what's important is your belief, and believing the lie is the only way to avoid a waking coma.
-Exhalation, Ted Chiang

"The right to dissent, the duty to dissent, is necessary for democracy to function in any kind of healthy way." -Michael Kazin, Turning Point: The Vietnam War

I will be as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write with moderation... I will not equivocate- I will not excuse - I will not retreat a single inch - and I will be heard.
William Lloyd Garrison

A slaveholder's profession of Christianity is a palpable imposture. He is a felon of the highest grade. He is a man-stealer. It is of no importance what you put in the other scale. - Frederick Douglas

I don't know about you but it's funny to see the world's richest men urging people to stick it to the man when they are the man. -Burn Book, Kara Swisher

White conservatives tend not to see their own affirmative-action programs, but they're everywhere. They just use nicer words for it, like "legacy."
- An Inconvenient Cop, Edwin Raymond with Jon Sternfeld

"Will this ever be over?"
"In time. When the Thieves find something else worth stealing."
"And then what?"
"They'll tell the Stolen that they dreamed it all up. That the worst things never happened."
- Yonder, Jabari Asim

Patriotism is just an idea, so is capitalism or communism. But ideas can make men forget their own interests. And the guys in charge will exploit men who believe in ideas too much. -Pachinko, Min Jin Lee